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Chapter 115

I told her she could come, but she should know that it’s because I ultimately plan to make use of her... yet she’s still so pleased about that?

Upon seeing her, he thought she was sulking because he hadn’t forged her equipment yet, but it turned out that it was because she was feeling excluded. It seemed that was more important than the equipment itself.

Well... she also managed to get the Purifying Earthstone for me, so I should forge something for her the moment I get a chance.

Raising Erika’s equipment to top priority, he took out his phone.

This is where the path diverges.

To get to the Black Arms, Se-Hoon needed exactly two things.

The first was an S-rank or stronger bodyguard to protect him from any unforeseen circumstances. The second was an expert familiar with the Black Arms who could bring him there and guide him around.

But even finding someone who met just one of the criteria would be challenging enough, so finding someone who met both would be almost impossible. Yet, Se-Hoon immediately thought of two such individuals.

If I choose the one I’m more familiar with, it would be Ma Kwang-Soo.

Kwang-Soon easily met both criteria. For the first, he was an S-rank hero with years of experience, so he was definitely proficient in both protecting and killing. Then for the second, he had very likely infiltrated places like black markets, perhaps even the Black Arms, plenty of times with the Executioners—the group he had founded to track down and hunt demons—and should be able to provide him with information.

The problem with going with that guy is that it’ll get troublesome if we get caught even once though...

Because Kwang-Soo and his Executioners ruthlessly disposed of those who collaborated with the demons, they were treated as ticking time bombs in the underworld. Thus, if their identity were exposed during this trip, it would end with Immortal going back into hiding and even the dissolution of the Black Arms.

Eliminating him, then there’s only one person who’s ideal for this job...

Arriving at a decision, Se-Hoon immediately made a call.

—What can I do for you?

Hearing Eun-Ha’s brusque voice over the phone, Se-Hoon got straight to the point.

With a serious tone, he replied, “I’d like to consult something with you; could you spare me some time?”

—It seems it’s something we can’t discuss over the phone.

“Yes, I would prefer to meet and discuss it quietly in person.”

—Hm...

Eun-Ha hesitated for a brief moment.

—It’s almost lunchtime; how about we talk at my house? We should be able to have a quiet conversation there.

“Ah, that sounds good. In that case, I’ll head right over once you send me the address.”

—Understood. I’ll see you in front of my house soon then.

Hanging up, Se-Hoon looked down at his phone and smirked.

Her being an expert in black markets really doesn’t suit her, not back then and not now.

Publicly, Eun-Ha’s image was that of a law-abiding, exemplary hero—which the life that she lived was indeed close to. But... there was one thing that made her stray from that life: equipment.

She really does become unrestrained when it comes to equipment she favors; just the fact that she threatened to annihilate the Barmuth family because of me says it all.

Of course, she always made sure never to cross certain lines—like conspiring with the Demon Force or murdering innocent people—but legally gray activities were fair game. And she never hesitated to do so when necessary.

One such example was exploring black markets like the Black Arms to find things to eat.

If I remember correctly, it was the black market in Mexico where I first met her for the first time...

Before the regression, he had been startled when Eun-Ha suddenly appeared before him in the black market, where he was secretly selling equipment, and proposed a deal.

Rather than calmly respond at that moment though, he had reflexively swung his hammer, an action that just led to being beaten up and hospitalized. The deal he struck with her in this hospital was just another old memory, but it was as vivid as their first meeting.

Since she said it was an old hobby, she must be visiting them even this early. Plus, The Black Arms has few ties with the Demon Force and circulates a lot of equipment, so she might even be a VIP there.

If he could secure Eun-Ha’s cooperation this time, his safety while navigating the Black Arms and gathering information about Immortal was guaranteed.

The thought made him more and more determined to have her join.

Vrrr-

He received a message.

Seeing that it was Eun-Ha’s home address, he became slightly curious.

Hmm. I wonder how she’s managing in Babel.

Her rented homes had always been on the outskirts, giving them all a barren feel both internally and externally. Unlike then, though, she was now living on Babel grounds so it might be different.

Calling a taxi, he headed straight for the address in the message. Gazing out the window, he took a look around the area.

So it wasn’t the residential district but the business district.

The business district, where the headquarters of various corporations and guilds associated with Babel were located, was close to the central square and also near the main building of Borsippa.

There are genuinely no small buildings in Babel, but this is huge in a different sense.

Although having the headquarters of globally recognized corporations and guilds gather here was impressive on its own, the fact that the owners of the gargantuan buildings changed slightly every year was even more so.

Then again, it was natural since they would just be evicted if they weren’t able to pay the exorbitant rent set by Babel or couldn’t meet the promised performance levels in the contract.

And it’s not like these corporations can just outright move their headquarters away from locations since Babel is a major transit station for the Void Space Terminal. They truly are caught between a rock and a hard place.

To stay in Babel, everyone—the students, staff members, guilds, and corporations—had to abide by Ludwig’s rules and standards. That was the true reason why everyone naturally referred to Babel as the Emperor of Ascension’s private garden.

“Thank you.”

Thump-

Arriving at the address, Se-Hoon looked up at the building in front of him, a five-story building tucked away in a corner of the business district. Its clean facade was quite deceptive, making it look like an empty building that hadn’t been around long.

“Hmm. This looks like...”

At that moment, as he was squinting at the building, he heard someone arrive.

“Lee Se-Hoon.”

Eun-Ha, arriving a bit later than him, slightly bowed her head.

“Sorry, I’m late. There was a bit of work left, so it took me a while to finish up.”

“I just got here too. Anyway... is this really your house, Dean?”

The building didn’t look like anyone could live there. Yet Eun-Ha nodded calmly.

“Yes, it is.”

“...I see.”

Although he hadn’t seen the interior yet, Se-Hoon already had a rough sense of what it might be like.

“Let’s head inside then,” Eun-Ha said, glancing at Se-Hoon and pointing ahead.

She then approached the entrance of the building which was to the right and placed her hand on a panel next to the door. With a beep, the door unlocked and slid open on both sides.

Following Eun-Ha into the building, Se-Hoon surveyed the spacious interior.

The first floor was covered by various boxes of equipment that were piled up like mountains. The labeled manufacturers of the equipment ranged from well-known companies to smaller workshops, giving the place more of a warehouse feel than a home.

It seems whether she’s living in Babel or not, she uses her home as a warehouse, Se-Hoon thought with a wry smile, having expected it.

Before the regression though, she at least had a separate, massive warehouse built next to her home.

Making a brief scan of the boxes, he noticed something and asked, “Are these all pieces of Normal equipment?”

“Yes. From the first to the fourth floor, I use each floor for storing different tiered equipment, and I live on the fifth floor.”

“Whole floors...”

“You can use these stairs to go up.”

Calmly finishing the short explanation, Eun-Ha led him up the stairs in front of the entrance. And since the building had no exterior walls blocking their sight from the stairs, he was able to clearly see the interior of each floor as they ascended.

The first and second floors, storage zones for equipment of low tiers, were filled with boxes stacked by type, while the third floor was filled with large metal display cabinets that contained pieces of Rare equipment neatly lined up.

Then, on the fourth floor, were quite a number of various pieces of Hero-tier equipment individually placed in display cabinets.

“You have quite a lot of Hero equipment.”

“Yes. I currently have eighty-nine pieces in total.”

Although that amount of Hero equipment might be astonishing to an ordinary student, Se-Hoon was unimpressed.

She doesn’t have that much... perhaps because she’s working as the dean right now?

Before the regression, Eun-Ha possessed over a hundred pieces of Hero equipment; the difference seemed to be because she was going out on subjugation missions less actively than back then.

Done with a quick scan of the fourth floor, Se-Hoon turned his gaze back to Eun-Ha and followed her up to the final, fifth floor.

“This is where I live.”

“...”

Like the previous four floors, the interior was completely open without any walls.

It looked like she had tried to designate different spaces for specific purposes though—seeing as how a bed, desk, dining table, and bathtub were sporadically placed—but since the floor wasn’t even properly covered, it didn’t mean much.[1]

...This is even worse than how she was before the regression.

She had never been one to care about interior design, but this place looked almost like an abandoned building with just living essentials placed inside.

The starkness of the furnishing went beyond simplicity to a point where it felt like something was missing. Feeling that emptiness, Se-Hoon looked around with a dubious expression.

His reaction made Eun-Ha try to explain awkwardly. “I don’t like it when the interior gets too complex, so I kept it simple. Please understand if it seems a bit odd.”

“Well... tastes vary.”

At any rate, the floor had everything it needed. Dismissing any further thoughts about it, he quickly changed the subject.

“Shall we have lunch before we start talking?”

“Okay.”

The two moved to a dining table in a corner, and Eun-Ha took out two pieces of equipment from her void pocket.

The sword and bow, both mass-produced Advanced-tier pieces of equipment with no particular distinguishing features, were akin to a triangle kimbap and instant ramen in their ordinariness.

“Hmm. Dean.”

“...Please, go ahead.”

Noticing Eun-Ha’s eyes filled with anticipation, Se-Hoon spoke the words she was waiting to hear.

“I’ve recently learned this decent skill, so if it’s alright with you, I’d like to experiment with your taste in equipment...”

“Feel free to do so,” Eun-Ha quickly said, handing over her lunch as if she had been waiting.

Her eagerness made Se-Hoon slightly smile as he used Incantation Inscription on the sword and bow.

“Enhance Aura, Accuracy Correction...”

The incantations cling tightly to the surface of the weapons.

Compared to Incantation: Attribute, the inscriptions adhered more easily and allowed him to choose specific features that would appear, making it possible to manipulate the effects and have them interfere with each other.

These might get erased from collisions during combat... but it should allow the user to push the offensive aggressively at the start.

When he started, he had planned to just briefly enhance the sword and bow, but a moment later, he found them densely packed with incantations. Deciding to just push them to their limit without compromising their cores, he added more incantations before handing back the finished weapons.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Eun-Ha received them graciously with both hands like she was receiving a delicate treasure. She gazed down at the sword and bow, inadvertently swallowing her saliva.

“Well then... bon appétit.”

Crunch. Crunch!

Starting with the sword, she ate it delicately to savor it.

“...!”

With every bite, her eyes widened further and further in astonishment and the tips of her hair fluttered, tinged with a slight crimson.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she had devoured the whole sword. Relishing the flavor still remaining in her mouth, she said, in a slightly excited voice, “The taste is quite stimulating. It’s like having a variety of toppings all mixed together.”

It tasted like ramen mixed with hot peppers, eggs, green onions, and bean sprouts—a much deeper flavor than normal.

Quite pleased with the taste, she began to chew on the bow, prompting Se-Hoon to smile unwittingly.

“Do you like it?”

“This is really delicious. If I could eat this for lunch every day, I’d be more focused on my work... ahem. Never mind. Don’t worry about that.”

She quickly stopped herself, worried that he might interpret her words as a request to make her meals every day. But contrary to her worry, Se-Hoon took it as an opportunity.

“I could do that for you.”

“...”

Eun-Ha froze mid-bite into the bow, then slowly moved her gaze to Se-Hoon.

“For real...?”

“It’s not something I can’t do. You saw how quickly I finished them.”

“But wouldn’t making some every day be quite bothersome for you? If it’s because of what I just said, you don’t have to worry—”

“I just have one favor to ask in return.”

Cutting off Eun-Ha, Se-Hoon looked at Eun-Ha with a serious expression.

“To take me to the Black Arms—”

“No.”

Not allowing him to finish, Eun-Ha cut him off sharply, her face so cold that her previous vibrant expression seemed like a lie.

“I don’t know how you heard about that place, but it’s not somewhere a mere student should go. Especially when it comes to someone like you, who’s under the spotlight as a promising talent.”

“But...”

“I absolutely will not allow it this time.”

Her cold attitude was similar to the one he was familiar with before the regression, catching Se-Hoon off guard.

There’s no way she would reject me like this if she was that satisfied with her lunch... ah, wait. Is it because I’m just a student?

Pre-regression, they had met when he was already an active-duty hero, so any request he made for her ultimately fell under his responsibility. Right now though, he was just a first-year student who had just started to grow.

There was no sane educator who would ever agree to take a student to a dangerous place like the black market on a whim, no matter how tempting the offer.

Tsk, if she had found the weapons to taste like ambrosia, she would have lost her senses and taken me there.... It must be my lack of skill.

Using his equipment as a bargaining chip was off the table, so Se-Hoon began pondering how to persuade her. He very quickly thought of another approach.

“Let’s drop this subject—”

“When I was in middle school.”

He interrupted Eun-Ha, looking down toward the ground as he began his story.

“I was coming home late from school when I found a man collapsed and covered in blood in front of the gate to my house.”

“...”

“Completely shocked, I was about to call an ambulance when the man stopped me. He said he was fine and just asked for something to drink, promising to repay me later.”

The moment he started, the memory—blurred yet indelible—flooded his mind.

“So I took out my tumbler from my bag and gave it to him... just as a hero from the Heroes Association showed up. Turns out, the blood-covered man was the A-rank demon known as Immortal.”

“...!’

Having connected the dots, Eun-Ha’s eyes widened, and Se-Hoon looked up to meet her gaze.

“I don’t remember what happened immediately after, as I got knocked out by a brick fragment that hit me in my head, but when I finally came to... everything was already over.”

The hero who tried to subjugate Immortal ended up as a corpse with every limb torn apart and all the nearby buildings were destroyed—including his home. Se-Hoon’s parents, who had been waiting for him with dinner ready, were crushed under the debris.

“I was the only one who survived that day... you can guess why, right?”

“...”

“Because of the water. The god damned water I had given to that guy.”

Standing amidst the grim scene of the collapsed buildings and the bodies crushed underneath, the man—Immortal—nonchalantly told Se-Hoon, “I\'ll spare your life. I did promise you, after all.”

A mere tumbler of water had led to a promise of repayment that spared his life.

Remembering the scene from the beginning to the end for the first time in a while, Se-Hoon couldn’t help but smirk.

What a ridiculous guy.

It was just because a snot-nosed middle schooler had given him a sip of water that made Immortal decide to keep him alive during the entirety of the battle. It was such an utterly nonsensical thing to do, which had driven Se-Hoon mad in the past.

The fact that his parents had been killed so senselessly by such a man, and the fact that his life had been saved by that very same man, made him furious.

“I might have digressed a bit.... Anyway, what I’m trying to say now is that this guy has appeared at the Black Arms.”

“...”

“Of course, I’m not asking for you to kill him for me. No matter what, I feel like I have to be the one to capture and kill him.”

Even if he didn’t desperately want to kill Immortal now, back before the regression, he truly had. If the Immortal had been subjugated by someone else and he had been the past version of himself, then perhaps, he would have just killed himself from anger.

“So please, just help me find out what he’s doing there... and if he’s still alive. If I can just confirm that, I’ll come back quietly and be obedient from now on.”

To him, the story of his parents getting murdered was a story from decades ago, but to Eun-Ha, it would seem like just a few years in the past. And after hearing such a story, who could remain unmoved?

This might not work on her...

At this point, he could only hope that the weapons had enriched Eun-Ha’s emotions as he waited anxiously for an answer.

“...Whew..”

Eun-Ha closed her eyes tightly and then opened them.

“In the Black Arms, you shall only listen to my instructions. Do not reveal your identity no matter what happens. And we will return immediately after confirming the target,” she said slowly, enunciating the instructions.

“Dean...!”

“And one last thing.”

Noticing Se-Hoon’s relief, Eun-Ha looked at him strictly. What she said now would have no room for negotiation.

“Whenever I work overtime, you will be packing dinner for me. That is all.”

1. It’s not a common thing in American houses, but older Korean houses tend to have ?? (linoleum floorings) that covers the house floor ☜